How To Use Your Personality Type To Be A Confident Homeschooler
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This post on How To Use Your Personality Type To Be A Confident Homeschooler is part of a blog/Periscope series dedicated to helping homeschoolers overcome common struggles. For more titles in this series, scroll to bottom.
Do you struggle with confidence as a homeschooler? Worry that you don't have what it takes? Concerned that you are not social enough to be involved in co-op or other group activity? Maybe your are busy with activities and fear that your homeschool is lacking in areas?
If you are like many of the homeschoolers that I know, you wrangle with these struggles and more when it comes to homeschool confidence. It is hard enough being a wife and mom-so much to keep track of and so many needs outside of our own. When we add the role of homeschooler to our already large list of responsibilities, our confidence level can droop.
Women tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves to do it all. "Super Mom Syndrome" comes to mind when I think about all the many tasks moms try to complete. "I should be able to do it all!" is a phrase I often hear from others and myself.
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New or experienced, all homeschoolers can experience a hit to their confidence. Some homeschoolers may enjoy smooth sailing all the way up through middle school and then have a wave of fear wash over them. New homeschoolers may not know where to begin, feel inadequate, or afraid to ask for help. The struggle with homeschool confidence can hit at any time in our homeschool adventure.
Unfortunately, we stretch ourselves too thin. We become overwhelmed , shutting down or exploding. When this happens, it adds another blow to our level of confidence as a homeschooler.
Let's look at how we can use self-knowledge through our personality type to increase homeschooler confidence.
Learn More About Your Personality Type
Do you know your personality type? If not, head over to 16personalities.com to take their test based on Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to discover it. Be prepared to have a jolt to your system when you read your personality description. Many who take the test report having an "aha" moment with how well it resonates with who they are and how they interact with the world.
Your personality type is denoted by one of 16 four-letter codes that are used to basically sort people by traits and tendencies. I will briefly touch upon the general categories here but please head over to Nitty Gritty Mom where my friend Lindsey (who is a genius when it comes to Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) shares her experience and knowledge on personality types.
Based on your responses to the test, you will be assigned:
- Introversion (I) or Extroversion (E)
- Sensing (S) or Intuition (N)
- Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)
- Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)
I encourage you to closely read and take notes on your personality type. You may not find it to be 100% representative of who you are, but I am confident that you will find many aspects of the description to ring true.
Reasons To Use Your Personality Type As A Homeschooler
- Increased Self-Awareness: You are growing and learning everyday as a homeschooler. There is no way to do what we do and not! You may feel stuck in a rut or say "Well, I've been in this body for ___ years. I think I should know myself!" But, do you really? Pause and reflect on the last time you took to really get to know yourself. Yeah, as a busy mom, I know that type of reflective thought is altogether too infrequent. Personality Type information can help bring to quicker to self-knowledge in these areas.
- Increased Self-Acceptance: Once you have taken the time to get to know yourself better, you can work on saying, "This is who I am!" Self-knowledge can be so freeing-and lead to self-acceptance. Give it a try and come to accept yourself for who you are.
- Help In Selecting Curricula And Activities: Yes, we need to consider our children and their individual learning styles. We also need to consider our own tendencies and how they impact our homeschool. Introversion vs. Extroversion stands our for me here. As an introvert myself, I have a very hard time committing to a co-op. I have come to accept that and it is freed me from guilt.
- Stop the Comparison Game: With self-knowledge, we can look at other homeschoolers and say, "That's her and this is me-and that's okay!" It is easier to accept differences, as well as highlight our own strengths.
- Deal With Common Homeschool Struggles: When we know we are a a specific personality type, we come to accept how we function as a homeschooler. Anxiety, depression, anger, and other common struggles typically dissipate. (And, if they do not or are clinically significant, please contact a medical professional for more information and help.)
How To Use Personality Type To Be A Confident Homeschooler
- Learn more about your personality type. Check out books and articles about Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Join Facebook groups like Myers Mondays to chat with others about how your personality type affects your well-being.
- Start a journal. Write about your thoughts and feelings about your personality type. Jot down how you can develop your strengths and what you can do to either eliminate or improve your weaknesses.
- Pursue interests that complement your type.
- Word choice. Consider the words that you use to describe yourself. Eradicate self-defeating or self-deprecating words, especially phrases like "I can"t stand...", "I should...", and "I must..."
- Give yourself grace. You are learning and striving everyday to give your best to your family. You will have doubts and make mistakes. This self-knowledge will not erase all your cares but it can get you moving in the right direction of positive self-love and growth.
Please consider joining me and other homeschool moms as we talk about overcoming common homeschool struggles on Periscope. I share resources and tips on how homeschoolers can work to transform struggle into serenity.
What is YOUR personality type? How do you use that information to build confidence as a homeschooler?